Bias in Extreme Sports

Yeah, this is kinda odd, it just popped into my head i had never made this topic in here...

I'm a Rollerblader, for the record. Fruitbooter,Bladetard, pick and insult if you feel compelled (it's more than common in skateboard/BMX kind)
Now, i'm not throwing any stones in the direction of Skateboard/BMX/Snowboard/Wakeskate folks, it's all good in my opinion. my question is, to you all, as outsiders of this little war, do you see any real reason for the hate here? If you don't know already, Inline is the black sheep of the X-sports community. why? I dunno. it's to the point of fights breaking out at competitions, people being shunned at parks, public humiliation, gear sabotage, and Professional skateboarders on TV publicly calling my people as an inferior to whatever. Recently, it's gotten into the public media as well. two years ago, ESPN cut coverage of street inline on TV, and lowered the purse $5000 below that of any other sport present for the competition. They Cut the ASA (Aggressive Skater Association, an Inline network) from the air until they agreed to make their competition tour into a Skate/BMX/Inline hybrid, and the Blue Torch network has adamantly refused to sponsor skate showing on TV, and has a character that involves a midgit dressing up and mocking Inliners.

What do you guys think about all this? I know of a number of other sports recieving the same type treatment, though they are more being shunned than humliated. Snow skates (how many of you have even HEARD of them?) Razor-style Scooters, Freestyle Skiing, vew-do boards, and snow-biking are all catching heat the same way.


if anyone wants to check out the state of Aggressive inline right now, feel free to visit www.be-mag.com , www.DBMAG.com, or www.Mindgame.TV

Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that people don't try things as much as they should. I'd warrant rollerblading is great fun, but I alas have never tried it and thus, do not keep up with it as much as I would with a sport I've actually tried and played.

As for ESPN cutting off these sort of sports, it boils down to ratings and ties in to the other point. Since people haven't tried the sport, they aren't interested in it, and thus, won't tune in to watch it. As much as ESPN declares that it IS All Sports, it does seem to only cover the more "popular" ones, such as baseball, football, golf and basketball because they have such a huge built in viewership.

My hope would be that more people go out and try these sports. I recall skateboarding was not at all popular until the X Games occurred and then suddenly, it exploded. Perhaps, rollerblading and other sports that have not been given the limelight need to find venues to showcase their talents and there entire sports to the public, which in turn will lead to a rise in people who participate and then watch it, which will then perhaps make ESPN air it.

Just a thought.

Take care all.

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Originally Posted by SocietyzAntidote

Yeah, this is kinda odd, it just popped into my head i had never made this topic in here...

I'm a Rollerblader, for the record. Fruitbooter,Bladetard, pick and insult if you feel compelled (it's more than common in skateboard/BMX kind)
Now, i'm not throwing any stones in the direction of Skateboard/BMX/Snowboard/Wakeskate folks, it's all good in my opinion. my question is, to you all, as outsiders of this little war, do you see any real reason for the hate here? If you don't know already, Inline is the black sheep of the X-sports community. why? I dunno. it's to the point of fights breaking out at competitions, people being shunned at parks, public humiliation, gear sabotage, and Professional skateboarders on TV publicly calling my people as an inferior to whatever. Recently, it's gotten into the public media as well. two years ago, ESPN cut coverage of street inline on TV, and lowered the purse $5000 below that of any other sport present for the competition. They Cut the ASA (Aggressive Skater Association, an Inline network) from the air until they agreed to make their competition tour into a Skate/BMX/Inline hybrid, and the Blue Torch network has adamantly refused to sponsor skate showing on TV, and has a character that involves a midgit dressing up and mocking Inliners.

What do you guys think about all this? I know of a number of other sports recieving the same type treatment, though they are more being shunned than humliated. Snow skates (how many of you have even HEARD of them?) Razor-style Scooters, Freestyle Skiing, vew-do boards, and snow-biking are all catching heat the same way.


if anyone wants to check out the state of Aggressive inline right now, feel free to visit www.be-mag.com , www.DBMAG.com, or www.Mindgame.TV

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I'm a blader myself I use to do street.My friends and I made a crew claled SideEffekt and it was kewl.Though it is true that blading is the blacksheep.I wanna know why?Thats all really.oh yeah un skatepile owns.so doesn Brian Shima.

I snowskate, snowbaord and I used to skateboard until everyone on earth started. I haven't heard of any problems with bladers as there are none around here. I roller bladed when I was little but nothing much. Straneg they would be asses to bladers huh.

I have a lot of respect for extreme sports people. It's amazing what people can do on skateboards and snowboards.